Restrictions at U.S. border to remain in place until end of July, Blair says

OTTAWA — Travel restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border will remain in place for at least another month.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the American and Canadian governments are extending restrictions on non-essential international travel until July 21.

He adds in a tweet that the government will provide details on Monday about plans to let fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents enter the country.

The measures at the border have been in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The pressure to relax the restrictions has been building from businesses on both sides of the border, and increasingly from American lawmakers as vaccination rates climb in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously said that it would take 75 per cent of Canadians getting vaccinated before restrictions can be lifted.

To that threshold Trudeau has also added the caveat that the outbreak needs to be at a stage where minor flare-ups can handled without risk of spreading more broadly.

Trudeau is scheduled this morning to address the COVID-19 situation from just outside his Ottawa residence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2021.

The Canadian Press